The World’s Greatest Seattle Walking Tour is the humble name for a two and a half hour tour around downtown Seattle, Belltown, and Pioneer Square. The tour takes you up close to the many sights of the City as your tour guide gives you insights about the characters and events that grew Seattle from fledgling backwater outpost to burgeoning 21st century city.
Pike Place Market (watch out for flying fish), WTO riot, grunge, Nordstroms' headquarters, Pioneer Square, Belltown, Seattle Art Museum, the original Starbucks store, Klondike Gold Rush, Great Fire of 1889, Post Alley, the monorail, … [Read more...]

To the many visitors who enjoy golf as part of a Hawaiian Holiday, it may seem surprising that golf only came to the Islands at the very end of the 19th Century. In fact it wasn’t until 1898 that Hawaii had its first course: the Moanalua Golf Club on Oahu.
Moanalua is a beautiful course located about 25 minutes from the hotels on Waikiki, but despite its proximity to the many visitors to the Island, it remains a popular spot with locals. While a nine hole course, players can take advantage of two different sets of tees for an 18 hole experience. This allows for a “front” nine and … [Read more...]

Lisa Weber of Adventures and Discoveries Hawaii has used both a Go Oahu Card (a by-the-day, all-inclusive Pass for sights and activities in Oahu) and the new Custom Oahu Explorer Pass (pick what you want to see and do, it gets put on a custom Pass).
As Lisa describes it, both save you money on tours, activities, cruises, and outdoor activities. But depending on your travel style, you may want to choose one over the other.
Lisa's advice is that if your are a "very active vacationer" then the Go Oahu Card is probably the right bet. If on the other hand, the Custom Explorer Pass is the … [Read more...]

Lydie Thomas and her kids and took the Go San Francisco Card out for a two day test. She did a nice blow-by-blow write up of her experience (complete with photos).
Getting a good jump on the first day, Lydie and her family hit the California Academy of Sciences, the neighboring de Young Museum, the Haas-Lilienthal House, the S.S. Jeremiah O’ Brien and the Wax Museum at Fisherman's wharf.
On day two they took in the Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the Cartoon Art Museum, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and the Children's Creativity Museum.
Based on the photos, its looks like they had … [Read more...]

Are you a foodie? If you are (actually, even if you’re not) you should thing about getting to Chicago’s Millennium Park September 24-26 for Chicago Gourmet 2010. You’ll be able to enjoy the city of Chicago's extraordinary flavors and share your interest in food and wine with renowned chefs, top restaurateurs, and well versed sommeliers.
Food celebrities Rick Bayless, Graham Elliot Bowles, Cat Cora, Gale Gand, Stephanie Izard, Tony Mantuano, Carrie Nahabedian, Art Smith, and many, many others will be applying their skills to this spectacular celebration of food and wine. There are … [Read more...]

The folks at Shermans Travel have come up with a fun top ten list of "Spots Every Kid Should See." We're not the only ones who liked this idea: the MSNBC used a similar approach in a piece it did a couple of weeks ago. For those keeping score, Central Florida came out on top by taking two of the top ten on the Shermans Travel list.
The Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral came in at number five while Orlando's own Walt Disney World took the number eight position. In noting the many great activities and learning opportunities at Kennedy Space Center (as well as fact that the last … [Read more...]

TripAdvisor recently published its list of the top ten “sweetest attractions” in the U.S. The list was picked by TripAdvisor editors who got it all wrong. As always happens when anonymous "editors" make critical decisions on ranking, the safe pick always wins while fans are left to powerlessly gnash their teeth over the injustice that pervades our world.
In this case the number one spot went to a perennial favorite: Hershey's Chocolate World, in Hershey, PA.
OK, so it’s unclear if this list (or even one like it) has ever existed before, but if it had, you’ve got to believe the … [Read more...]

For the 4 millionth time, someone made a visit to a top sight using a Go City Card (or Explorer Pass). These products let people take in the best tours, museums, and attractions. This particular visit was made at the San Diego Zoo using a Go San Diego Card.
“Most people still stand in line and pay whatever price they are charging at the ticket windows when they go on vacation," said Cecilia Dahl, founder and President of Smart Destinations. "We're starting to change that. Having 4 million visits where people saved money and time as well is great forward progress.”
To further … [Read more...]

Don't be surprised if you see a special Boston Explorer Pass showing up with your room key when you check into your hotel. Thanks to a partnership between the Massachusetts Lodging Association and Smart Destinations (the creator of Explorer Pass), hotels across the state can now offer Explorer Passes directly to their guests.
The MLA Explorer Pass gives hotel guests the choice of any one attraction from a list of Massachusetts’ top 54 sights, activities, museums, and tours. The pass acts as the admission ticket for the attraction with nothing further to purchase upon … [Read more...]

There are many great ways to see New York City. On foot, on a tour, from the water: they all offer great views and opportunities to capture your memories with a camera. But if you are looking for something a little different, you probably should consider a helicopter tour.
The Big Apple Tourby Liberty Helicopters is one of our favorites. You get an unparalleled view of one of the United States' most famous landmark, the Statue of Liberty. You also get a birds-eye-view of the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Woolworth Building, the Met Life Building, and, well, pretty … [Read more...]